A master and his student were walking by a river.

They came upon a beautiful young woman who needed to cross over. The master picked her up, carried her across the river, and put her down on dry ground. Then the master and student walked on.

As they walked, the student grew more and more agitated. Finally he burst out, “How could you touch and carry that woman on your shoulders?! That’s against everything we believe!”

The Master said, “I left her by the river. Why are you still carrying her?”

You have that student inside of you.

There’s a part of the mind that harbors memories of incompleteness from the past. You carry this incompleteness as body tensions, emotional distress and self-limiting thoughts. Have you noticed?

A part of your mind loves to stew and fret over memories, reliving insults and injuries infusing them with new life! Argghh. But there’s more to you than this carrying-on mind.

There’s also a part of you that is the master.

The master in you offers a way of being that meets the world free of beliefs and emotional distress. This master-in-you awareness, fully and authentically engages the present moment—opening to life on its terms.

It’s the student that believes he/she knows better than life and thus clings to outmoded belief, seeking safety in rules.

The master in you sees where patterns of incompleteness are carried—in your body, emotions, thoughts and behaviors. The master in you sees all this carrying on without judgment; rather, with warmth, humor and love.

Adopt the master’s view for a moment.

And take a look into your mind, emotions, thoughts and body. Look with all the warm, humorous and loving eyes of the master.

What are you aware of?

What memories are you carrying that cause you to suffer and struggle?

How do you carry them in your body, emotions, thoughts, behaviors?

What would it mean to put them down, to stop carrying around incompleteness in your mind, body, heart?

It doesn’t mean forgetting events.

If it rained on your parade in fourth grade . . . it rained. Letting go doesn‘t mean blacking out or suppressing your awareness of the past.

There’s a part of you (symbolized by the student) that sustains its identity through perpetuating emotional incompleteness. But there’s another part of you (symbolized by the master) that prefers to live free of emotional incompleteness.

Releasing memory from the overlays of emotional justification and the entanglements of personal identification, allows the past to be complete. By letting the past be completely—without the addition of emotion or identification—your experience is completed.

What is left when memory is purified of emotion and identification?

Wisdom and the capacity to live with an undefended heart. That’s the master’s secret.

About Eric Klein

Eric Klein is one of the few people on the planet who is both a lineage holder in a 5,000-year-old yoga lineage and a best-selling business book author. You can get his free ebook & guided meditation audio "The 7 Reasons Meditation Doesn't Work (and how to fix them)" at http://wisdomheart.com. Eric has worked with over 35,000 people to infuse greater meaning, awareness, and purpose into their work and lives. His book "You are the Leader You’ve Been Waiting For" won a 2008 Nautilus Book Award for being “a world-changing book promoting positive social change and responsible leadership.” With his wife and partner Devi, Eric is also the creator of the Healing Family Karma programs and The Meditation Habit. Eric and Devi have two adult sons, a ball-obsessed pup, and live in Encinitas, California. To learn more about their work (and access free teaching videos on meditation and mantra), go to http://wisdomheart.com.

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If you are holding on to memories of a past relationship, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art offers a unique opportunity to ceremonially let go – and participate in an exhibition. Donate your love leftovers – those items you keep in boxes and drawers- to the exhibition Museum of Broken Relationships, opening February 14. http://www.bmoca.org